Belle Gueule 20 Years Anniversary Brew
Brasseurs R.J.

22 oz bottle, nice presentation. Big thanks to Derek for sharing.

Pours a clear reddish brown, some ruby and orange highlights, medium sized light tan head forms, quickly settles down to a thin ring around the glass, no real lacing. Smell is decent, lots of fruit, raisins, caramel, alcohol, some bready malt, but very light aroma, not a whole lot going on. Taste is similar, just a lot of bready malt and caramel, some fruitiness but in general weak on all fronts. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with medium carbonation, certainly drinkable but falls flat. Thanks Derek!

I've had this in my fridge since May. By reviewing this I'll most certainly be lowering the trade value of my remaining bottle. :D

A: Copper-amber, light tan head, very little retention, slight lacing.

S: Caramel, dark fruit, floral, not bad.

T: Fruit bread, caramel, floral, good bitterness, some residual sweetness. It's got some of the right flavours, but there's no continental malt here, and I even wonder if they used a lager yeast?

M: Moderate body has some residual sweetness.

D: It's not a bad brew, but it's certainly below average for a doppelbock.

Not half bad.

This beer pours nicely, and looks great in the glass: a nice amber.

The nose is promising, consisting mostly of malty notes with a pronounced wisp of raspberry.

The taste isn't bad, raspberries again, with a little malt. Very little bitterness.

The mouthfeel is a bit watery and a little over-carbonated.

Overall, the beer is quite drinkable, but not really anything special.

660 ml bottle.

A- Very nice orangy-red beer with amber highlights. Good effervescens and a decent pale beige head to top it off. Very appetizing.

S- Nice aroma of sweet malt and floral hops. Toch of alcohol noticeable.

T- A little bland, especially when cold. Very faint bitter aftertaste. Touch of floral and grassy hops. More malt flavour comes through as it warms. Decent taste but too mild and lacking in complexity,

MF- Nice malty feel. Cleen up front but the finish is somewhat harsh.

D- Very easy to drink and has some character.

Color is light brown. Limpid beer.

The smell is average. Malty smell mainly. The taste is similar, more malty than anything else. Nothing bad, but I think it could be a little bit better.

Mouthfeel: I can't notice the alcool level of this beer. Tin feeling in the mouth which could be good for drinkability. However, one was enough for me.

Nothing out of the ordinary here... although this is, IMO, typical of Belle Gueule.

Bottle: Poured a clear deep brown color lager with a huge foamy head with good retention and minimal lacing. Aroma consists of sweet caramel malt with not much else in term of identifiable characteristics. Taste is dominated by some sweet caramel malt with no banana ester that I usually expect from the style. Average body with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Better then I had expected but still below my expectation for the style

Brasseur RJ brewmaster has created a 20th anniversary edition for his Belle Gueule. I am not the biggest BG fan, but I still think it is a very good value on the market.

I am dissapointed by the 20th anniversary dopplebock. It got a nice package (a round box) and it is priced ok, but it stops there. That brew recalls me of a Molson Hi-Dry or Black Label 10%: something to be loaded with, not something that you will expect of a special edition beer.

To the guys at RJ, go to your nearest convenience store, have an Unibroue and see what you missed. Sorry, but that 20th edition is not even close to my low expectations.